Girl and the Goat’s Stephanie Izard Comes to Boston

Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s on a whirlwind tour promoting her new cookbook, Girl in the Kitchen: How A Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats and Drinks. She popped up at retro-licious Mike’s City Diner last night to cook with her pal Jamie Bissonnette, and despite her grueling schedule, Izard appeared perky and well-rested. While Chicago played in the background, Bissonnette and Izard prepared a menu with dueling versions of three main courses: "Fin," "Pasta," and "Belly." Every dish was a winner, even though the two chefs confessed to not coordinating their menus until a couple of days before the big event. Clearly, though, they work best under pressure. The feast kicked off with an appetizer medley; guests loaded their napkins (sadly, there were no plates) with curiosities like beef hearts and Lebanese stuffed mussels. Wine and beer flowed freely, with diners wandering up to the bar to top themselves off. The meal concluded with a coffee gelato sundae and Roxy Music blasting from the speakers. Take a look at some of our favorite plates, straightahead.